OAF: Operation April Fools
by The Real Weasley Twins
Summary: For the past six years, Lily Evans has had to put up with James Potter's pranking. But as her seventh year commences, she decides it's time to give James a taste of his own medicine.
1. A Plan Is Formed

"James Potter, you get back here this instance!" Lily Evans screamed at the hazel-eyed boy.

They had only just gotten off the Hogwarts Express to begin their seventh year and already James had found a way to torture her.

Lily was covered in some sort of paste, but she still wasn't quite sure if it was disgusting food or bat dung. Either way, she was going to get back at James Potter.

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James had walked up to the Gryffindor dormitory with his three best friends, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew- all of whom were not only in on the prank, but had mischievous sides themselves.

"James," Sirius said. "She'll murder you in your sleep! Much better chance of that now that you two are sharing the Head's dormitories," he continued to laugh, almost wishing that James wouldn't wake up alive.

"Oh please, Padfoot," James retorted, using his friend's nickname, "Lily doesn't have a mean bone in her entire gorgeous body! Besides, she i must /i know that I wasn't aiming for her. Snivellus was right behind her! How was I supposed to know she was going to change directions?" James was referring to the outcast Slytherin Severus Snape, an enemy to the Marauders.

"I don't know, James," Remus Lupin, another friend, and the more sensible of the group said. "Lily looked really angry. I wouldn't put it past her to hex you into Hungary."

"Did she really look that mad?" James asked.

"Yes," Remus and Sirius said in unison.

"She'll get over it soon enough," James remarked, trying to make himself believe the farfetched comment.

"I've gotta go," James said, "Dumbledore's going to show us to the Head's rooms."

James waved goodbye at his four friends.

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"Aaa!" screamed a frustrated Lily. "How could this happen again?" She had walked to the Girls' Bathroom down the hall to wipe off whatever substance was on her.

"Oh, cheer up, Lily," said Marlene McKinnon, a fellow seventh year and Gryffindor, "at least it isn't turning you purple like last year's prank."

"Oh, don't remind me!" Dorcas Meadowes cried. She, however, wasn't helping Lily get the gooeyness out of her hair. Apparently, it was 'too gross' for her. "But nothing could be worse than the giant bubble gum incident in third year." The three girls looked at each other and cringed.

"Listen to us!" Lily got up abruptly, leaving some of her crimson hair in Marlene's hands. "We need to get back at him. This is the last straw. There has got to be some way!" Lily started pacing the stone bathroom, thinking. "Alright, what could we do to James Potter? Something so bad that he'll get on the floor and grovel at our feet," Lily's pace began to quicken as Dorcas and Marlene exchanged worried glances: Lily never acted on a whim- everything was always thought-out and preplanned.

"Wait!" Dorcas cried suddenly. "I've got it." Her big grin turned into a very mischievous one. "Lily, how many times would you say that Potter's asked you out in the past year?"

"About a thousand," Marlene snorted.

"Well, how long do you think it'll be until James asks you out again?" Dorcas asked.

"Er…. Well, probably in an hour or so… but I'm not quite sure what you're getting at," Lily said, throwing a curious glance at Dorcas.

"Well, here's the plan: You start dating James and-"

"WHAT?" Lily screeched before Dorcas could finish her thought, "Absolutely not!" Lily crossed her arms in defiance.

"You start dating James," Dorcas continued, giving Lily a knowing look, "and then you dump him. You dump him so brutally that he'll want to leave Hogwarts."

"I couldn't do that, Dory," Lily said. Dorcas sighed and walked over to Lily.

"Look at yourself, Lily. You're covered in Merlin-knows-what and it is all his fault." Lily looked down at her new sweater and anger began rushing into her body, flushing her face and shaking her hands.

"You know what? You're right, Dory. You're right! I'm going to dump him straight on his ar-" Lily began.

"Lily!" The rational Marlene interrupted. "Lily, you i can't /i do this! You're Head Girl and James is Head Boy! You've got an almost spotless record!"

"Arg! No, Marlene, this has to be the last straw. I am through with James messing with us. It's not fair," Lily retorted.

"Well then," Dorcas replied, "the games shall begin tomorrow. Hmm… we need a codename. Um, Operation Dump?"

"Alright, alright," Marlene said, obviously excited at the prospect of a codename, "I'm in. Ooooo, but only if you dump him on April Fool's Day. In his honor, of course." Marlene let out a faint giggle.

"Good, that's really really good," Lily said, her darker side slowly revealing itself. "No, Operation Dump is too…"

"How about…. Operation April Fool's?" Marlene suggested.

"That's it then!" Dorcas exclaimed. "O.A.F.. Oaf! Perfect Marlene, just perfect. We begin tomorrow!"

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Lily walked to Dumbledore's office. She was to meet James and Dumbledore there so they could learn the location and password of the Head's dormitory.

As she walked down the warm hallway, Lily felt ecstatic to be back home; her real home wasn't really a home at all. She truly loved her parents, but her sister, Petunia, made her life so much harder; she often called her names and every 'freak' that came out of Petunia's mouth hurt Lily more than she'd care to admit.

Hogwarts was filled with friends who cared for Lily; people who accepted her just the way she was: a witch. i _Why is it so hard for Petunia to understand?_ /i Lily knew jealously was partly the cause, but couldn't her sister just be happy for her?

"Are you all right?" A deep voice asked Lily. She turned around and saw a boy with disheveled ebony hair walking towards her. It was then that Lily realized she had tears running down her face.

"I'm fine, Potter," Lily said, trying to quickly dry her wet face, "allergies."

"If you say so," James said.

An awkward silence came between them and James didn't know what to say. He knew that something was wrong but he wasn't sure what to do about it, "Listen, Lily-"

"-Ah, you two are already here," interjected Dumbledore. James looked over to Dumbledore and sighed at the sudden interruption. "Excellent, just follow me."

Dumbledore walked down the opposite corridor and James and Lily walked with a quick pace to keep up. James looked over at Lily and could see that her eyes were still very red.

Lily could tell James was staring at her, but what was she to do? She looked over at him and watched as he averted his eyes quickly. The action made her even more upset and more tears spilled out of her eyes. She gave a half-hearted fake sneeze and smiled, giving a somewhat believable performance of allergies. James didn't buy it though; he looked at Lily once again with intense concern.

"Well, this is it," Dumbledore stopped abruptly. He turned toward to a portrait on his left. "Winston Mathem, Lily Evans and James Potter are the Head's for this year. I trust you will serve them well," Dumbledore smiled at the tall man with extremely dark features who sat within the portrait; he sported a smock and held a paintbrush in front of a seemingly blank canvas.

"Why, hello Professor! How are you today?" Winston asked with a large smile..

"I'm doing just fine, Winston. Thank you," Dumbledore replied. "Now, James, Lily, this portrait works a little differently than other portraits at Hogwarts. Here, you must answer a question about either yoursel, or your roommate; that would by Lily for you, James, and visa versa. I assume you'll explain the rest, Winston?" Dumbledore looked at the painter once more and then turned away, saying quickly, "Goodbye, Lily, James."

"I bet I know more about you guys than you know about yourselves!" Winston chuckled and then began to explain the 'password' further, "Essentially, I will ask you a question, for instance, James, what is the color of Lily's hair?"

"Well, red, of course," James said matter-of-factly.

"Yes, yes, and that's all there is to it. Now, the questions will be a bit more difficult. It is to promote the Head's to get to know each other better. I trust you two will be just fine." Winston smiled at the pair and then swung open the portrait.

The dormitory was unlike anything Lily had ever seen at Hogwarts. Everything was bright gold and crimson to represent that both Head's were Gryffindor's. In the center of the main room sat two couches, a cozy fire, a large desk, and bookshelves that lined the wall with every book imaginable. Across the room were two doors, side-by-side.

"Wow," James breathed, "This is fantastic." He walked quickly across the room towards the doors. Lily followed behind him.

"Whoa!" James said. Lily watched as he lifted a hand and began rubbing the front of the door.

"What're you doin-" But Lily stopped mid-sentence as she noticed what was on the door: a snitch, engraved into the door and painted. It was moving around the front of the door slowly. Neither of them had ever seen anything like it. It moved like any regular portrait, but this was engraved into wood.

James was known to carry a snitch around, and she looked down at his pockets to see that he had one. Lily looked over to the other door and saw another engraving. It was of a Lily flower. It also moved, but only slightly. Its petals were slowly falling yet as each one fell, another one grew.

"That is so odd," Lily said, staring at her own door now.

"Well," James said, "shall we take a look?" Lily looked over at James who already had his hand around the doorknob. She grabbed her own door, turned the knob, and opened it up.

A beautiful room came into view with a large four-poster bed. All of her things were already unpacked and her trunk sat in the corner of the room. She around the large room and admired its beauty until her eyes rested on two other doors. She walked over to the one on the right and opened it to reveal a bathroom with a shower, bath. Combined with everything that sat in Lily's room, she had everything she could ever need or want.

She slowly walked out of the bathroom and headed towards the other door. She put her ear to it and heard rustling noises. She opened it up and saw James moving his trunk to the other side of his room. He had not noticed her enter, and she smiled as she watched him pushing the trunk across the floor.

"Aren't these rooms amazing?" Lily asked. She watched James' head snap towards her and he smiled.

"Yes," James said. They stood there in yet another awkward silence.

Lily broke it by saying, "Well, I'm off to bed then. It's getting late." James' face fell slightly as she turned around and walked back into her own room, closing the door behind her.

Lily changed into her night dress and climbed into the most comfortable bed she had ever felt. She sighed slightly, falling asleep with the image of James in her head.


	2. And So It Begins

Lily woke up the next morning feeling a little tired. The plan of the previous night had already been forgotten.

"Up, up, up!" A familiar voice called to Lily. It sounded extremely far away, and Lily was slightly confused, pulling the covers back over her head.

"Lily!" This time it was a shriek. Lily quickly jumped out of bed, put on her robe, and ran to the portrait hole.

"What's wrong?" Little yelled, thinking that something was the matter. As her eyes fell upon her beautiful friend with ebony hair, all panic left.

"What in the world do you want?" Lily asked with more disdain than she meant. She looked at her watch and noted that it was 5:30 in the morning, much earlier than she had intended to get up on her first day back at Hogwarts. Dorcas did not seem to notice Lily's dislike of the situation.

"Get dressed, we don't have much time!" Dorcas shouted after Lily roughly shut the portrait behind her, much to Winston's dismay.

"Why?" A dreary Lily asked.

"OAF!" Dorcas exclaimed.

"I beg your pardon?" Lily asked, confused.

"No! No, not you. The plan, remember?" Dorcas asked. She raised her eyebrows expectantly.

"Oh, come now, Dory," Lily said wisely. "That was all just a joke. It's not as if I'm really going to date Potter just to dump him."

"Oh yes you are!" Dorcas cried.

"Make me," Lily snorted. The quick stream of air from her nostrils blew the hair out of her face.

"All right, I will. I already told Sirius to meet us for breakfast. And you know that Marlene fancied Sirius last year. If you don't come, I'll tell Sirius not to go and then Marlene will be devastated," Dorcas said, as if it were rehearsed.

"You're truly evil on the inside, aren't you?" Lily shook her head.

"Yes, Lily. Yes, I am," Dorcas said with a smile. Lily shook her head and turned back toward the enchanted door to her own dormitory. "Does that mean you'll do it?" Dorcas asked.

Lily turned around and put her index finger to her lips and then pointed toward James' door. Dorcas' eyes got wide and she shoved Lily back into her dormitory and shut the door quietly behind them.

"You share this dormitory? I thought this was yours and Potter's was next door? You know that portrait with the old man and the rabbit? Oh, what's his name…?" Dorcas tapped her chin and looked up toward the ceiling as if the lights held her answer. "Oh, it doesn't matter anyway. What matters is that you two share a room?"

"It's not a _room_ Dory," Lily replied. "It's just like a smaller common room. This is the same as in the Gryffindor one. Besides, he can't enter my room."

"Ah, but you can enter his?" Dorcas asked with a big smile.

"Dorcas Meadowes," Lily said with a warning tone.

"No, dear. I'm just thinking that's all. Just thinking about OAF." Dorcas then looked down at her watch and gasped. "We're already late! Come now, Lil, we must get you ready."

"I've dressed before you know," Lily said sarcastically, pulling on her school robes.

"What is _that_?" Dorcas asked, looking straight at Lily's face.

"This?" Lily gestured to her own face. "This is my head."

"Oh, dear. He'll never ask you out looking like that. Come here. I'll fix it," Dorcas demanded. Lily went over to Dorcas and she began to brush Lily's hair. When Dorcas was finished with Lily's hair, she dug through her small purse and pulled out an extremely large makeup bag.

"Dorcas! Please, you know I don't wear makeup." Lily looked at her friend with large eyes.

"I know, I know. You're just too naturally beautiful for your own good Ms. Evans," Dorcas stated as she slightly blushed Lily's cheeks with blush. Dorcas then stepped back and examined Lily, like a painting making sure he was finished with is canvas.

Lily studied her friends face, hoping that a frown would not appear. But instead, Dorcas looked at Lily and sighed. "You really are too pretty for your own good."

Lily laughed a little and then said, "Shall we head down to breakfast then?" Lily opened up her bedroom door and let Dorcas out before closing it behind her once more.

The pair walked down the long staircases towards the Great Hall, Dorcas bothering Lily about OAF the whole way. They met Marlene halfway down.

"I can't believe Dory managed to talk you into to this!" Marlene said, exasperated.

"Well, to be entirely honest," Lily said as the trio walked into the Great Hall, "she mentioned your fancying Sirius and everything and she knew I couldn't resist." Lily smiled at Marlene as they continued walking. Marlene only gave her a questioning look.

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James was quickly shoveling down some hash browns when Sirius let out an astonished, "Whoa."

"What?" James said with a very full mouth. He looked at his friends, all of whom were staring at the entrance to the Great Hall. He followed their eyes until his eyes fell upon the most gorgeous creature he had ever seen: Lily Evans. But there was something different about her today. Today, she walked with a different air; it was not of arrogance or sarcasm- it seemed to be of intelligence and understanding and compassion.

Yet there was even more different about her today: she was headed directly for him.

"Hello, boys," Dorcas, who happened to be the more outgoing of the three, cooed. "Mind if we join you?" All four boys speechlessly shook their head, unable to keep their eyes off the three girls. "Great!" Dorcas pushed Lily toward James' end of the table and said, "sit, ladies."

Marlene sat across from Remus and Sirius and Dorcas gladly sat in between Lily and James. Dorcas glanced at Marlene's content face and then looked over at Lily. But 'content' was not a word that would be used to describe Lily's face. 'Disgusted' was a better word.

"Potter, if you think for one second that I like seeing down your throat you've- ouch!" Lily began, but was stopped with a quick jab in the side. Lily sneered at Dorcas who shook off the dirty look.

"So, James," Dorcas said politely, "there's a Quidditch match coming up, isn't there?" James, still with a full mouth, nodded his head. "Oh, well that's just wonderful. Lily's been dying to see you play." James choked slightly on the wad of hash browns in his mouth.

"Beg your pardon?" he asked, while wiping his mouth with his napkin. He was positive that he had heard Dorcas wrong.

"It's Lily. She just won't stop talking about how much she's wanted to see you play." James stared at her incredulously and then looked over to Lily. He heard no cries of disagreement from her.

"Um," James began. He looked over at Lily who was only staring down at her plate.

Dorcas jabbed Lily in the ribcage once more, forcing her to yelp with pain. As Lily glared at Dorcas, Dorcas gave her a pushy glance, one that said _come now, play along!_

"Why don't you tell James what you've been telling Marlene and me?" Dorcas asked, her teeth slightly clenched.

Lily forced a smile at James, "When is the next match?"

"Tomorrow," James said. He offered up the information slowly, waiting to see Lily's reply.

"Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful! Aren't you just ecstatic, Lily?" Dorcas prompted Lily and then pushed her dark locks behind her ear, slyly reminding Lily of James' prank the previous day.

Lily's face began to heat up as she remembered the disgusting goo. "I'm very happy," Lily said, awkwardly touching James' arm. Lily turned her head and realized that Remus, Sirius, Peter, and Marlene had all stopped their conversations, and were now staring at Lily. Lily gave them a stiff smile, and then turned back to James. "Would you mind if I watched?"

James choked once again. "Um," he began, "'course not."

"Great! We'll see you then! Tootles, boys," Dorcas stood up, roughly grabbing Lily's arm. Dorcas then grabbed Marlene by the elbow and pulled her off the bench. Marlene, who was in the middle of eating eggs, yelped with pain and glared at Dorcas but did not argue. Dorcas dragged her two friends out of the Great Hall quickly and began dashing up the stairs toward their first class, transfiguration.

"Tomorrow, we begin," Dorcas said as they finally reached the classroom. She gave a sly smile at Lily and Marlene before sitting down. "Oh, and Lily, I think you're a little out of practice with all of this. You should probably prepare for tomorrow's game," Dorcas said, matter-of-factly- as if she pulled pranks like this every day.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Marlene mumbled to Lily.

Lily looked into Marlene's frightened eyes and replied, "Me too."


	3. A Strange Encounter

"Dory

"Dory! Stop it! Please, you're hurting me!" Lily elbowed Dorcas in the stomach, managing to push Dorcas away from her fiery locks.

"Lily! Listen to me!" Dorcas shouted. "You _must_ look decent today! It's just the start of OAF and you can't back down already." Dorcas looked from Lily's hair to her emerald eyes, which were menacing. "Oh, you know what I mean. You always look nice, Lily, it's just that today you have to look especially nice. You know, because of the plan and all."

Lily continued to glare at Dorcas. Dorcas threw her arms up in a signal of defeat, saying, "Very well! Just trying to help. Didn't think that James would want to date someone whose hair looked as if it had spent the night beneath a balloon, but whatever you say! You know best." Lily sighed and looked over to Marlene. Marlene, however, was staring at the top of Lily's head. Lily took this moment to glance into the closest mirror. It was true: her hair was practically standing up straight on its own.

"Oh, all right. Fine! Just, please, be gentle!" Lily surrendered.

Lily had spent the previous night in the Gryffindor dormitories. Dorcas had insisted that she not go near James before Dorcas had time to prepare her. This apparently included surgical work on Lily's seemingly unmanageable mane.

After a half-hour's work, Lily's hair seemed almost perfect. Dorcas pulled Lily out of her vanity-mirror seat for a 'final check', as Dorcas called it.

Dorcas looked Lily up and down, making sure that Lily held the essence of perfection, from her small feet up to her flowing locks. "Well, well, I am good, if I do say so." Dorcas smiled at Marlene and Lily before beginning to quiz Lily on how to act around James to win his attention.

"You know, Dory, I really don't think that Lily will have too much trouble catching James' eye. He has continually asked her out for ages now, and I doubt that she needs much more prepping," Marlene had offered. Yet Marlene's advice had gone unheard by Dorcas, who seemed obsessed with making sure of Lily's perfection in personality.

"Now, the most important thing is that you must _not_ be mean!" Lily rolled her eyes at Dorcas' comment. "I'm being serious, Lily. I highly doubt that your vicious wit had attracted you to him. Well, perhaps your wit. Actually, I wouldn't doubt that your intelligence had aided to his fancying you. I mean, Potter's not a stupid boy he's just-"

Lily interrupted Dorcas' verbal-thought process with a cough. Dorcas snapped her head up and looked at Lily. "Well!" Dorcas began, "It may be a good idea to know what attracts you to him. I mean, then all we'll have to do is make every other part of you appealing besides the traits he already likes."

"Like the fact that Lily is witty and funny and intelligent and gorgeous," Marlene added.

"Yes, exactly. Now, back to the problem: you're too mean! Lily, you mustn't call him any rude names. Please, if you're going to call him anything, let it be James or even Sweetheart!" Lily, Dorcas, and Marlene looked at each other and then burst out in laughter at this last statement.

Dorcas sighed, a smile still strewn across her face, and said, "Well, I think you're ready. Now, off to breakfast. Well try to find James and his friends in the Great Hall."

The three girls walked the stairs down to the Gryffindor Common Room together. But as they reached the portrait hole, Lily remembered that she had forgotten to bring down her scarf for the Quidditch match.

Lily had attended many Quidditch games before, but usually she would merely bundle up in loads of jackets and sweaters to keep herself warm. This morning, however, Dorcas would not allow that type of clothing. Lily was to "freeze her butt off and be proud to do so". Lily managed to persuade Dorcas into allowing her to bring down one Gryffindor scarf by assuring her that James liked school pride, though Lily had honestly just made this fact up off the top of her head.

"Ah, darn it. I forgot my scarf. You guys head down, I'll just meet you outside the Great Hall." Lily watched her friends walk through the portrait hole, then turned around and ran back up to her friends' dormitory taking the steps two-at-a-time.

Lily walked over to Dorcas' bed where the scarf laid crumpled, and quickly grabbed it. Slowing her pace down a little, she raced back down the steps, trying to fold the scarf at the same time. Yet this time, when she reached the bottom, she ran into something large and warm. Lily, caught off balance by ignorance of her surrounding, tumbled off the last step and on top of something that seemed like a human-being.

"Oh, dear," Lily mumbled. The only thing that separated her and the floor was the Gryffindor scarf that was elegantly plastered on her face. She was tangled in a web of scarf, bag straps, and human appendages. "I'm so sorry," she continued.

Still staring at the floor she said, "I wasn't looking where I was going." She pulled the scarf off of her face as she felt the other body get up off the floor. _Drat_, she thought as she looked down at the crumpled scarf. _What a waste to fold this if I was going to fall down the stairs._

Lily's thoughts were interrupted by a strong, masculine hand that was now extended in front of her. "Lily," a warm voice said softly, sending shivers up her spine. She reached for the strong hand and allowed its owner to pull her up off the floor with grace. As her body straightened, she ended up only a few inches from a boy's face. _Wow,_ Lily thought, her eyes unfocused, "You smell really good. Like lemons and amber." Lily's eyes fluttered as she took a deep intake of breath to further smell this seemingly wonderful creature.

Her eyes finally focusing, she saw a pair of bright hazel eyes, behind with dark-rimmed glasses. Realizing who she was gaping at, she attempted to leap backwards. Unfortunately, the second end of her scarf was on the floor. Lily slipped sideways and began falling back to the ground. James, however, was athletic enough to swoop to Lily's side quickly and catch her just before she landed back on the ground.

James brought Lily upright, who slowly began to sway. He steadied her by grasping her shoulders and holding her directly in front of him. "Why, thank you." James said, flashing a brilliant smile at Lily. "How about we sit down for a second so you don't fall over again?"

Lily tried to protest but no words came out. She willingly sat down next to James on one of the Gryffindor couches. A moment later, Lily blurted, "For what?"

James gave her a funny look. Finally steady, Lily said, "You said 'thank you'. What did you mean? 'Thank-you-for-falling-like-an-idiot-down-the-stairs-because-you-were-trying-to-fold-a-scarf-and-weren't-looking-where-you-were-going'?"

James smiled at her once again, a twinkle in his eye. "No, of course not. You just said that I smelled good, and it's nice to hear that from a girl once in a while. A man's scent really matters to him, you know," James said with fake pride. But his smile slowly fell as he mentioned, "Oh, and you're not an idiot. I shouldn't have been walking so fast anyway."

Lily did not respond to this. Her cheeks began to glow a bright red. "Did I really say that out loud?"

"Well, yeah," James stated. "But, again, it's nice to hear that once in a while. Wouldn't want to smell like rotting Bubotuber pus." Lily, surprising even herself, began to laugh at this comment.

"Wow," James said, "you have a really nice smile." Lily stopped laughing abruptly at this comment and looked into James' eyes. She realized that, once again, their faces were dangerously close. They didn't say anything to each other for a moment, but just stared into each others' eyes. The moment was not of romance though, but more so of confusion.

Lily did not like this confusion and jumped off the couch quickly, her face red with embarrassment. "I should probably head down to breakfast. Dory and Marlene are waiting for me."

James stood up slowly next to Lily and replied, "Yeah, Sirius is down there with Remus too." James' face was flushed as well. But Lily knew that he had nothing to be embarrassed about.

Lily was about to retort with a nasty comment, something about it being surprising that James had any friends at all, but then remember about Operation April Fools. _Right_, she thought, _this is good. I'm supposed to get him to notice me._ "Walk me down to the Great Hall?" Lily asked James with a smile.

James seemed flustered from this request but immediately answered with an enthusiastic "Yes!" as if he had only that moment to respond. He gestured toward the portrait hole for Lily to leave, and she did so. They climbed through the portrait and began walking down the stairs.

"I don't think I've told you how pretty you look," James said. For some reason, he felt so comfortable around Lily today. He couldn't tell if it was just because she was dizzy, or _perhaps_, he thought, _she's actually warming up to me_. James shook off this notion immediately though, physically shaking his head.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked, staring at him.

"Oh, nothing," James replied, stopping his head-shaking immediately. "Just thinking about the game today, I'm a little nervous." He quickly made up this story to change the subject from his mysterious head movements.

"James Potter, nervous? I couldn't possibly imagine it." Lily gave James a sideways glance. _Neither can I,_ thought James. He actually never got nervous, but perhaps this might be an attribute that Lily liked. So he continued with the story.

"Well, it is the first big game of the year. And with my being captain and everything, it just feels like everyone is depending on me." James feigned a sigh and shook his head once more.

Lily looked at James with questioning eyes, not really believing this. _But he seems so sincere,_ she thought. "I know you've nothing to worry about though. You're actually a pretty decent chaser."

"'Pretty decent'? Well, I've never been called _that_ before, but I suppose I'll take it. Especially if it's coming from you," James smiled at Lily. Lily returned the smile, and tried to flip her hair in one swift motion as to attract James' attention. As she did this, a loose strand landed in her mouth instead of behind her shoulder. She then tried to spit it out with no luck, and ended up pulling it out of her mouth anyway; she shoved the limp, damp strand of hair behind her ear. As she did this, she recalled the goo that James had placed in her hair her first day back, and she became even more determined show him what it was like to be pranked.

"I mean, you're a fantastic chaser," Lily said. She knew that if OAF had any hope, she'd need to turn her neutral comments into actual compliments. Lily looked over to James who was obviously suppressing a laugh.

"I'd rather the semi-compliment than sarcasm any day though," James said.

Lily began to laugh at this comment. "No, no. I actually meant it. You really seem like an amazing chaser." James' face began to turn red. _Am I honestly that mean to him?_ Lily thought. She was not sure, but perhaps Dorcas had been right about her nasty attitude. _Well, he's going to see a side of me he's never seen before._ Lily was determined.

They continued talking about their classes and teachers, James doing a creative impression of their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. When they finally reached the Great Hall, they were laughing extremely loudly, so caught up in their jokes that they did not notice Dorcas and Marlene standing by the entrance.

Dorcas' eyes grew wide at the sight of James and Lily. Lily snapped her head toward her two friends as Marlene shouted, "Lily! We weren't sure you were coming back down."

Lily stopped laughing and mischievously nodded her head toward James, "_James_ was just walking me down here."

"Where's the scarf?" Dorcas asked, surprisingly unhappy by the situation she found Lily in.

"Drat! I must have left it in the Common Room after fell down the stairs," Lily replied. "Oh well, I'll figure out some way to keep warm at the game."

"James," Dorcas began, "you go on ahead into the dining hall, I just want a quick word with Lily." James, though slightly confused looking, waved at Lily and strolled into the Great Hall, obviously happy that he had been able to walk with Lily to breakfast.

"What in the world are you doing?" Dorcas whispered to Lily, pushing her towards the corner of the room.

"Dorcas, didn't you see? I was with James! He's buying it!" Lily was beaming at her friend, though her happiness was not returned. "What's wrong?"

"You can't just _dive_ in like that!" Dorcas retorted.

"What do you mean?"

"You can't just let him have you like that!" Dorcas snapped her fingers as she said 'that'. "He's got to have a hard time getting you to go out with him. It can't just happen all at once. That would be too obvious."

"But, I thought you wanted me to be nice…" Lily began.

"Yes, but you can't be all flirty with him and everything. He's got to feel like he's finally won you over."

"Oh, all right then. Well, stop confusing me!" Lily said.

"Fine, fine." Dorcas smiled at Lily. "So, you really fell down the stairs? Did he catch you?" Lily smiled at her friend and began walking into the Great Hall, not answering.

"Oh, all right then. I'll just hear it from you later. Now, about the Quidditch game." Dorcas pulled her friend back out of the Great Hall and started to review their plans for the Quidditch game.

Bottom of Form


	4. A Little Common Sense

The Gryffindor/ Hufflepuff Quidditch match was just about to start as Lily and her two friends, Dorcas and Marlene, sauntered into the stands

The Gryffindor/ Hufflepuff Quidditch match was just about to start as Lily and her two friends, Dorcas and Marlene, sauntered into the stands. The pitch looked as bright as ever despite the dismal, gray clouds that circled above the stadium. It seemed the anticipation of the first Quidditch match of the school year was enough to turn the dreary weather into a much warmer and more welcoming environment.

Though quite chilly outside, none of the crowd seemed to notice. The decibel of the chatter was proof of the intense excitement. Lily, however, was not ecstatic enough for Dorcas' taste.

"Oh, come now, Lily! You mustn't frown. Potter may see you!"

"I know, I know." Lily shook her head and said, "It's just that I've so much work to do! You know how much homework we have in Potions this upcoming week."

"Oh, cheer up!" Dorcas patted Lily on the shoulder with unnecessary roughness. "You can finish that later. Right now you must focus on OAF!"

Lily sighed and looked back down onto the pitch. The teams began to enter the arena and Lily watched as James strolled with confidence to the center. He unexpectedly began to turn his head in all directions, searching for something in the stands. His head stopped moving as his eyes rested on Lily. He gave her a brilliant smile and then waved with confidence.

Lily was surprised to blush at this unexpected gesture. Confusion spilling over her, she merely titled her ginger head at James until she felt a sharp jab in her side. Lily turned toward Dorcas and mumbled through clenched teeth, "Will you stop doing that!"

"Quickly, please!" Dorcas slightly motioned toward the pitch.

Lily lifted her heavily gloved hand and waggled her fingers back at James with a slight smirk. "You happy now?"

"Lily, please! I'm not sure you understand how important OAF really is! James Potter has been horrible to you, to us, since the first day you met him and you seem to be losing your edge as we draw nearer to gaining his trust!"

Lily rolled her eyes as this comment. "Oh, don't be so dramatic. We'll be fine. I just can't see how this can work in the first place. "

"We've been over this! Lily, you must focus yourself, and remember what Potter has done to you! Remember the goo?" Lily's face contorted and then released again.

"Yes, yes, I remember."

"No doubt Potter will strike again soon." Dorcas looked at Lily knowingly.

"Dory, I highly doubt after our conversation today that Potter will really prank us again. Not to mention the avid hatred I showed him after the last one," Lily replied.

"You never know," Dorcas insisted.

The Quidditch match had begun and the team members were flying about the field. James had the Quaffle at this point. He quickly flew his broom around the pitch, dodging two Bludgers and the Hufflepuff Seeker. Lily had known how great James was as a Chaser. iWho wouldn't with him gloating about so much?/i She thought. But she had not realized just how talented he actually was. Lily found herself cheering extremely loudly as he neared the three shimmering gold hoops across the pitch. It seemed that even those glinting hoops were rooting for James, for each time James neared them, he scored.

After Gryffindor had many goals, and Hufflepuff had a few as well, the Gryffindor Seeker finally managed to snatch the Snitch within an hour of the game starting. Gryffindor had won.

Lily was much happier by the end of the game than anyone anticipated. On Dorcas' orders, they raced down to the pitch to go and congratulate the team. When they reached the Gryffindor team, James was already surrounded by a group of girls of all ages and houses.

James looked up from one particularly small girl who Lily could only assume was a first year for she was asking for an autograph, and made eye contact with Lily.

James broke away from the gaggle of girls and waltzed over toward Lily. She smiled warmly at him and said, "I see you already have a flock of girls around you." She glanced down at her watch. "And not even two minutes after the game has ended."

"A flock of girls over a flock of birds I always say." James smiled.

An awkward silence occurred between the pair. Lily tried to reconcile it. "Well, I'm off I suppose. I'll see you in the Head's room later?"

"Yeah," James replied. "I'll see you later." Lily walked away from James and towards Dorcas and Marlene.

"Shall we head up to dinner?" Dorcas asked, her pale features contorted into a strange look.

"Yeah, let's," Lily responded. The trio went up to the Great Hall and sat down to supper.

"I wanted to talk to you about OAF, Dorcas," Lily started.

"Oh, dear. What is it now?" Dorcas rolled her eyes and looked back at Lily

"Well, it just seems that James is different than before. I mean, he hasn't pranked us for a while, and it doesn't seem as if he will. So…" Lily looked back down at her food. "… I think we should call it all off." Marlene sighed in relief.

"Arrrg!" Dorcas grumbled. "Lily, you've just got your head in the clouds right now. Just because you had one or two decent conversations with Potter doesn't mean that he's changed at all. It just means that he's playing you like a violin!" At this moment James and his cronies arrived in the Great Hall.

Dorcas studied the group as they sat down across the Great Hall. Lily watched the pack as well, noticing James' customary disheveled hair. Yet Lily couldn't help but think that James had a way of making that hair seem extremely stylish. "I'm telling you, Lily, they have something up their sleeves." Dorcas' eyes narrowed slightly as she stared at James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter.

"Whatever you say, Dorcas. Whatever you say," Lily replied, discreetly rolling her eyes. "I'm going up to the common room now to grab my things out of your dormitory, and then I'll head off to the Head's room." Lily smiled at her friends and they said goodbye, stood up from the bench, and made her way to the Gryffindor common room.

Lily took the steps two at a time as the staircases slowly changed directions. She took a glance, as she always did, at the painting containing three mermaids, joyfully playing in a sky-blue pond beneath a just-as-aqua sky and some low hanging palm branches. She smiled and sped up as she raced up the staircases.

Finally reaching the Fat Lady, she mumbled "Oblivio", the password, and made her way into the common room.

Lily quickly ran up to her friends' dormitory and grabbed her overnight bag. She worked her way hurriedly down the stairs, perfectly content and humming some tune she could have sworn she heard on her parent's radio before she had left for Hogwarts, but she was not sure. iThe Girl from Ipanema/i, she recalled the name of the song as she continued through the portrait hole.

Yet something was not right. She heard some voice in the distance mumble, "Avis." But before Lily had time to react, a flock of birds began attacking her. The white-feathered menaces were jabbing their sharp, short beaks into Lily's ginger hair and slim waist.

"Ouch!" Lily screeched, a small trail of blood beginning to run down the side of her face from a particularly sharp prod.

"Evanesco!" A female voice shouted from the staircase below her. The birds suddenly disappeared, leaving a sole feather to slowly float towards the ground as if it had not been attached to an attacking bird just moments before.

If it had not been for her anger, Lily knew that the hot tears that now threatened to spill out of her eyes would have already been rolling in twin streams. Her fury, however, was enough to keep her lamentable emotions in gear. Who she was angry at she did not know. But what she did know was that once she discovered the person who had done that to her, she would no longer hold out on her ferocity.

That same female voice that had shouted iEvanesco/i now broke her train of though, "Lily! Oh, Lily, what happened?"

Lily looked up and saw Dorcas running towards her, her ebony locks trailing in a smooth motion as she rushed to Lily's side.

"I saw Potter running down the stairs with a smirk, and then I heard your screaming. What in the world did he do to you?"

"Potter?" Lily had heard nothing but his name. "What do you mean Potter?"

"Lily," Dorcas replied, "he was the only one who was anywhere near you. We all saw him leave the Great Hall just moments after you left. So I followed him, but couldn't keep up. Why in the world would he set a flock of birds upon you?" It was a this moment that Lily realized that it was indeed James Potter who had once again ruined her day. iFlock of birds/i, she thought, scrunching her eyes as if it would improve her thought process. Then she recalled that moment today at the Quidditch match i"A flock of girls over a flock of birds…"/i. Lily's eyes opened wide and a single tear managed to work its way out of her left eye.

She had forgotten that Dorcas was even standing next to her as the hot water drop slid down her cheek, stopping only for a moment at her chin, and then dropping off her face and onto the floor with a soft echo. With that tear left all of her sadness. She now only had anger. "Potter," Lily growled softly.

"Lily, you all right?" Dorcas asked.

"I'm fine, Dorcas, fine." Lily turned and faced her friend. "Now, what's the next step in OAF?"

Dorcas stared at Lily's face as her facial appearances gradually became darker and darker, even though a mischievous smile played on her lips. But Dorcas ignored he friend's changing features and instead smiled back. "You must say yes to his next invitation."

Lily said nothing in return, but instead began walking down the stairs towards the Head's room. She noticed that Dorcas did not follow her, but she did not care. She was sure she could take it from here on out.

She made her way down the stairs until she reached the portrait of Winston Mathem, the artist who resided within the Head's room's entrance. Still, Winston's canvas appeared blank, and Lily absentmindedly wondered if Winston ever painted anything with his paintbrush.

"Ah, Lily. Hmm, let me see…" Winston mumbled to himself, trying to think of a question for Lily as he tapped the end of his paintbrush upon his upper lip. "Oh, yes. What day was James born on?" Lily quickly glanced up at Winston.

"Sorry?"

"I asked you James' birth date," Winston replied, still chipper.

"Oh," Lily replied. She had no idea the answer to this question, and therefore, knew she would not be able to get into. "Bother," she mumbled to herself. "Now I'll never get inside." Winston glanced down at Lily sympathetically, but said nothing. Lily couldn't help but feel that the fact that Winston believed she could have ever known James' birth date was unfathomable. How in the world was she to know that?

"You know, Lily, the whole point of this is to get to know James better as the other Head." Lily did not reply to Winston's comment, but only leaned against the wall.

A moment later, Winston's head looked up from his blank canvas, smock askew, and said, "Ah, Mr. Potter, perhaps we can give you a try. When is Lily's birth date?"

James, without flinching, replied, "January 30."

Lily turned around quickly and titled her chin up slightly so that she could look James in the eye. "Now why would you know a thing like that?"

James shrugged in reply, but then his eyes grew wide. "Lily! What happened to you?" He lifted his arm and wiped his hand across Lily's left temple, cleaning up some of the blood.

"Oh," Lily's rage filtered into her body as she recalled why she had rushed back to the Head's room. "Nothing, really, just a slight spill down the stairs after a bird flew at me. I'm perfectly fine though." The honest truth was that Lily's head hurt a lot, but she would never let Potter know that. Nor would she hint to him that she knew it was him who had set a flock of wild birds upon her. For once, Lily did not care if anyone knew that she was correct; she could only focus on getting James back for what he did to her, starting with getting him to ask her out.

The pair heard a cough behind them and they turned around. Winston stood open, obviously waiting for them to enter.

"Oh, sorry," Lily muttered, walking through the portrait hole.

"And, no, it's not all right. Sit down and I'll get a towel." James pushed Lily toward the scarlet couch that sat in front of the fireplace and Lily moved accordingly. A moment late James arrived with two towels, one damp and one dry.

He sat down next to Lily and began to softly dab the side of her face. Lily winced in pain as he hit the spot where the vicious bird had prodded her.

"Sorry," James apologized, now moving the cloth over her face with even more gentleness than before.

"Don't worry about it," Lily replied. He face grew hot and red as she remembered the birds. She did not understand why James had done that. The only explanation she could come up with was that he had not changed. She had been wrong. Tears stung her eyes again, but this time, they were an effect of the pain James was creating. She knew he was trying to be gentle, but it honestly was not working very well.

"I'm sorry, Lily," James apologized once more. He did feel bad, and Lily felt sympathy for making him feel sorry, but she could not forgive him for doing this to her in the first place. iWhy won't he just admit it?/i Lily wondered to herself. iWhat is he trying to hide?/i

Yet James' face showed no guilt, just sorrow; sincere sorrow for what had happened to her. But Lily's head began to hurt even more and she wished James would just ask her out so she could say yes and pay him back the pain he had dealt her.

When James had finished, Lily feigned interest in him by asking him questions about this and that, sometimes mentioning details from her own day. She was trying much harder than she ever thought she would, her experience with the birds earlier continued to push her to all extremes to return James the favor.

As their conversation continued, Lily could tell James was getting nervous about something. She knew that he was trying to prepare himself to ask her the question she was waiting for; the question she usually dreaded.

And finally, it happened. James looked Lily in the eye and began, "Lily…"

Lily lay in her bed, wondering what exactly she had just done when she heard a door slam. She sat up in bed abruptly, arching her slender neck and plunging her right ear into the impenetrable dark to attempt to listen better. She then heard a curse from a male voice, and then nothing. Lying back done and glancing at her tableside clock, she wondered where exactly James Potter was headed to at 2 o'clock in the morning.

Remus and Sirius were sitting on Sirius' bed playing Wizard's Chess as James came running into their dormitory.

Remus noticed his flustered composition and asked, "James? What's wrong?" James did not answer, but instead a small smile crept up the right side of his face toward a bruise on his temple. "James?" Remus tried again, "What's the matter? You get into a fight?"

For the first time since his entrance, James looked at his friends. "I was sitting with Lily, cleaning up the blood on her face, and then I just did it! I asked her out."

"Blood? James, what did you do?" Remus' eyes grew wide.

"No! That's not the point! I asked her out!" James' smile grew even larger.

"What else is new?" Sirius and Remus shared an amused glance. Remus then looked at James' face and noticed that it was different than he had ever seen it before. The usual laugh lines that surrounded James' mouth had dissolved into a much more confused smirk as James bit his lip. "James, why are you telling us this?"

James' eyes shot up and he looked at his friend's faces. "She said yes."


	5. Of Dips and Laps

Throughout Hogwarts' illustrious past, the Head Boy and the Head Girl made a connection, a friendship, a comradeship: not a date

Throughout Hogwarts' illustrious past, the Head Boy and the Head Girl made a connection, a friendship, a comradeship: not a date. So news of James' and Lily's upcoming rendezvous in Hogsmeade had reached the entire school, it seemed, before Lily was even able to open her heavy eyelids the following morning.

"Lily!" A squeal came from afar. Yet this time Lily did not question who called to her. She knew. Getting up lazily and throwing on her brown, cotton robe, she opened her bedroom door and walked through the Head's common room toward the portrait hole. Lily then slowly pushed open the portrait as if she was tired, though she knew she secretly wished to further test Dorcas' patience.

"He asked you? James asked you and you said 'yes'? You said 'yes', to a question of going out with James Potter?" As Dorcas rushed through her questions, Lily did not listen for she knew what Dorcas was saying and did not wish to respond. Lily merely nodded her head and tried to close the portrait once more. She was much too tired to care for Dorcas' questioning. Dorcas, however, managed to catch the door in just enough time to stop it from shutting.

Dorcas' usually pale face was flushed with pink. Lily assumed that this was Dorcas' first stop this morning.

Trying to change the subject, Lily asked, "Where's Marlene?"

"Oh, you know Marlene, probably sleeping or at breakfast or something." Lily's face hardened at this comment. She did not like it when Dorcas insulted Marlene. Lily began to realize that Dorcas' insults were happening more often.

"Don't say that Dorcas, it's not nice." Lily said with intensity and much more force than she had intended. But what could Lily do? It was rather early in the morning and she had not expected Dorcas' fairly unwelcome visit.

Dorcas' mouth dropped at this comment. She huffed slightly, then turned on her heel and walked out through the portrait hole.

"Ouch," said a voice behind Lily. Lily quickly turned around. There stood James Potter, merely a few feet away from her, a slight smirk upon his soft, pink lips. Lily blushed, pushing some stray hair behind her now scarlet ear. Yet, as she did this, she felt a scar on her temple. It was rather deep and as far as she could tell, not going to heal any time soon. iRight/i, she recalled, iOAF. /iThe birds. The blood. The pain. It all came flooding back to her. She clenched her jaw as she thought about the previous day's incident. i Yet how can I be standing next to him? And how can he be smiling like that? As if he hadn't done anything?/i Lily tried to hold her composure as she looked at James.

"Hmmm?" She questioned.

"I've just never heard you talk to Dorcas that way before. Serves her right," He mumbled this last part.

"I beg your pardon?" Lily titled her head at James, squinting slightly.

"It's just, Dorcas is such a pushy person. I was just happy to see someone stand up to her…" James' voice trailed off. Lily knit her eyebrows in thought. Was Dorcas usually this cruel? She could not recall. Lily looked back at James and saw a grin upon his face.

"Oh, dear. What is it this time?" Lily rolled her eyes at James' smile.

"I like your pajamas." Lily looked down and saw that she was still in her night clothes. Another shade of scarlet flushed over her cheeks, replenishing her slowly whitening face. She grabbed her robe and clenched it tighter around her, folding her arms over her chest.

"Right," Lily mumbled, "I'm just going to get changed now." She rushed past James, not glancing at him, though she could tell he watched her the entire time. As she titled her lower body slightly to avoid running into the couch, her hip hit the corner of the armrest and sent her flying to the ground. i Oh, brilliant! Perfect timing, Lily. Once again, you show your clumsiness to Potter./i

Lily beat the ground with her fist and stood up slowly. Though James was once again by her side, hand offered to her, she refused it and pushed herself off the ground using the very armrest that had tripped her.

"You all right?" Though when Lily looked at James she noticed a slight grin at the corners of his shapely mouth, his question seemed sincere.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lily said, darting into her dormitory and out of his sight.

She closed the door quickly and leaned against it. The cold wood felt soothing to her hot back and neck, warm from her embarrassment. She quickly pulled her uniform on over her head and went into her bathroom to brush her teeth, hoping that James had not smelled her morning breath from across the room.

As she scrubbed her molars, she contemplated the fact that she could have sworn that her doorknob seemed oddly loose. Spitting out the toothpaste into the sink, she shrugged off the notion, accepting it to be her imagination.

After completing her short morning routine of grooming, Lily glanced at the mirror. She turned her head to the right so as to aim her left side at her reflection and glanced at the scar on her temple. A small gasp left her

She had not expected a drastic change to the scar that now resided on her left temple, but she at least expected a slight improvement. Instead of seeing an improvement, though, she noted that the spot where the birds had attacked her (though she considered it an attack by James, for he was the villain that had conjured the flock) Lily thought her scar, rather heart-like, she noted, had deepened and become a more vibrant scarlet through her restless night of nightmares involving James' usually beautiful mouth turning into a beak and bighting her.

Lily shuddered as she remembered her terrible dreams. This was the first time she had ever considered James to be much more than just mean: he seemed evil throughout her nightmares.

Lily shook her head as if to rid her mind of her frightening thoughts and headed towards Winston's portrait to go to breakfast. But right before she left, she glanced back at James' door, not sure what she expected to find. A pair of devil horns? Or perhaps a skull etched into the Snitch that floated on his bedroom door? As a shiver ran down her spine, Lily just about ran out of the Heads' common room, as if her imaginary skull were chasing her.

Lily darted through Winston's portrait and into the hall as quickly as she could manage. Unfortunately, she ran into yet another large body as she rounded the corner of the small hallway.

With a loud yelp, Lily, once again, began her clumsy tumble toward the stone floor. But this time, the body she ran into caught her by the waist and flipped her around as if the two of them were involved in an intense Tango and her dance partner had dramatically dipped her.

"Ah, I knew that you'd fall for me sometime, Lils," Sirius Black said smugly, gray eyes sparkling like clouds before a thunderstorm.

Lily's face grew warm with not only embarrassment, but also with the fact that being in the arms of Sirius Black felt entirely unnatural and, honestly, quite uncomfortable. She screwed up her face with disgust.

That seemed to clue Sirius in on her feelings and he slowly began to lift her up, saying, "That's not the reaction my charm usually receives."

"Charm? I believe the characteristic you are referring to so humbly is i_arrogance_/i" Lily shot back as she pushed her way out of Sirius' muscular grip.

"Ouch," Sirius mumbled, gripping his heart as if Lily had just stabbed him in the chest, "you really know how to hurt a guy." 

Lily rolled her eyes dramatically and lifted her leg to step away from Sirius and toward the Great Hall, but Sirius gently grabbed her arm and said, "Though I suppose I have to be nice to you now, don't I?"

Lily knit her eyebrows and turned to face Sirius, her question clear in her eyes.

"Well, now that you and James are dating, you'll be like a… like a…" Sirius raised his eyes toward the ceiling and then quickly threw them down to face Lily, "like a sister-in-law! Can you believe we're going to be siblings?"

Lily quickly decided that she would not deny the fact that she had accepted James' invitation to Hogsmeade. She chose, instead, to barely give Sirius the chance to torture her with his jeering, and replied, "I'm still trying to accept the fact that you're part of the Human Race. But I suppose the test results aren't back yet?" Lily raised her eyebrows at Sirius, who had already let go of her arm, and began walking away.

"I'll see you down in the Great Hall then?" Sirius cried after Lily. She glanced over her shoulder quickly and saw a huge, bright grin upon his face.

Lily merely shook her head in mock disappointment, a small smile on her face. She did not interact with Sirius that often and she did know of his unfaithfulness when it involved females, but she had to admit he was extremely fun to talk to.

Lily was so focused on the amusing conversation Sirius provided that she only questioned his presence in the Heads' corridor as she reached the entrance of the Great Hall. iWhy in the world was Sirius outside the dormitories?/i she asked herself. iWell, I know just the person to ask./i Lily immediately began heading for James who was conveniently sitting near Dorcas and Marlene. Dorcas seemed to be talking with James.

When Lily reached her friends, Dorcas cut-off her thought mid-sentence and turned to smile at Lily as she sat down. Lily did want to know what Dorcas had been talking about, but her curiosity about Sirius was stronger. So, instead of looking at Dorcas, Lily immediately turned to face James, who sat across from her.

But before Lily began speaking, she noted the slight uneasiness about James; his eyes were downcast, eyebrows knit as he bit his lower lip.

He hardly seemed to notice her presence until she said, "James, I'm curious about something."

James looked up quickly, his eyes startled and filled with seemingly unnecessary guilt.

"Don't looked so shocked," Lily retorted, "I am merely wondering why your dear friend Black was lurking about outside the Heads' room.

James eyes grew oddly wide at this comment. "Why? Did he do something? Did he try to get in? Or did he talk about the- ouch!" James' hurried sentences were cut off by his random yelp. Yet he glanced up at Dorcas and then stared at Lily, waiting for her to reply to one of his many questions.

"No," Lily said flatly, "just more of his usual harassment." James' face loosened a little, as if this comment, of Sirius pestering Lily, relieved him.

"Oh, I sent him up to get my books for me. He had to go get his and I asked him to get mine as well."

"And the password?"

"January 30- it didn't seem like a crime to tell him." Just as James said this Sirius arrived in the Great Hall carrying only one set of books and looking rather disgruntled.

James looked at Sirius and asked, "Was a single date really that hard to remember."

Sirius sneered at James and said, "You can just use my set today. Besides it wouldn't have mattered if I had or hadn't remembered the date anyway. The password has changed." Sirius sat down with a grunt. "Oh, Evans, what's the name of your pet hamster?"

Lily and James looked at each other at the same time and said, "What hamster?"

"I've never had a hamster… or any pet for that matter. My dad's allergic to just about every animal. Where in the world did you get that idea anyway?" Lily continued.

"Stupid Winston," Sirius mumbled.

Lily's smile grew wide and James began to chuckle.

"Serves you right," Lily said, laughing lightly as well. She exchanged a pleasant look with James and then turned down to her food.

Deep in thought, Lily did not notice Marlene's presence at first. Lily unconsciously stared at her. Marlene's face was scrunched into an upset and exasperated look. Her usually bright blue eyes were downcast and it looked as if she were just about to cry.

Lily quickly shoveled in the last bites of her wheat toast and announced, "Well, I'm off to the library to finish up some last minute Potions. Marlene, would you mind helping me?"

Marlene looked up, slightly astonished to be addressed after being ignored for so long. Though her breakfast plate was empty, she still held up her fork as if she could not put it down. "Sure," she stammered quietly as she got up from the long wooden table.

Marlene walked slowly next to Lily without saying anything. As they finally exited the Great Hall Lily decided to begin the conversation.

"Marlene, is something the matter?" Lily asked. They were both subconsciously headed toward the library.

"Yes," Marlene sighed as if one thousand pounds were being lifted off her chest. "I do not like Sirius." Marlene's sudden change of subject startled Lily. What did that have anything to do with Marlene's depression? Lily did not know what to say, and therefore said nothing, hoping that Marlene would continue.

But Marlene did not. "I don't understand," Lily continued.

Marlene stopped and turned to Lily with piercing eyes. "I didn't think anything of it until that one day when you said you were continuing OAF because of my fancying Sirius, but I don't! I haven't for a long time. And of course Dorcas would know that." Marlene was rambling now, staring off at some distant memory. "Yet she lied to you. She seems completely obsessed with getting back at James."

Guilt rushed throughout Lily as she heard this. She had been so focused on OAF, on herself, that she had disregarded the wellbeing of her friend; a person who had helped her without question whenever Lily needed help. Marlene had been anguished with this truth for so long.

But Marlene did not understand. This no longer involved her or Sirius. "Marlene, I am not continuing OAF because of you. Not anymore, anyway."

Marlene's head turned abruptly toward Lily. "Then why are you still doing this, Lily? Has James really hurt you that much that you must do this to him? You should have seen him when he came down to breakfast. Lily, I don't think I've ever seen him so happy, and you only said 'yes'!" Marlene was pleading for Lily to stop her scheme. But she still could not understand.

Slowly, Lily pulled her hair away from her left temple and gestured to it. "You see this?" Lily asked, pointing at the gash. "James did this to me yesterday."

Lily felt as if Marlene stared at the scar for hours upon end, and Lily watched Marlene's facial expression the entire time. Slowly, Marlene's composure changed. At first her eyes held questions, much too many too ask, and then nothing. Her eyes became blank slates.

The only sound that then left Marlenes mouth was a small, "Oh." For a few moments, the two girls merely stood by each other, not saying anything. Lily wanted to give Marlene time to comprehend why she still longed to get back at James. The truth was that the bird attack was by far the worst and most-hurtful prank James had ever played on her. iPerfect timing/i Lily thought grimly

"Lily, I'm so sorry! I'd no idea. I fully support you now. I don't care what Dorcas lies about anymore! What in the world happened?" Marlene' s apology came out in a rush of thoughts.

Lily gestured for Marlene to finish their last few steps to the library. They then sat down on two comfortable chairs in the back of the library, and Lily explained the whole story.

It had been a few hours since Lily had discussed the bird incident with Marlene. The pair had talked straight through lunch, refining the details of what Lily was supposed to do on her date with James'. Dorcas was not invited to this meeting. Both Lily and Marlene had agreed that her presence was not needed. They could easily complete their mission without Dorcas, for both had thought she had become too infatuated.

Lily had skipped dinner to work on some last minute Transfiguration homework in the library and then she intended to head back to the Head's Room.

After packing away all her parchment, Lily walked through the deserted corridors and then found Winston sitting in his portrait. His canvas still looked blank, just like the first day she met him.

"Good evening, Miss Evans," Winston sang.

"Good evening, Winston," Lily replied.

"Hmm… let me see. What is the name of James' younger sister?"

"What? Um… he doesn't have one." Lily surprised herself as she sputtered out this answer very quickly and without much thought.

Winston nodded, a small smile playing on his lips, and then opened.

Lily was still slightly dazed as she walked into the Head's common room. She had not anticipated that question to be so easy. Although, she can't say she had completely defied Winston's orders; she had made slight attempts to get to know James better. Well, now she intended to understand James to her full potential; she wished for just enough information to crush him.

In her bewilderment and rush of thoughts, Lily absentmindedly headed toward the sofa and sat down, as she did any time she needed to relax. After experiencing a day filled with such intense happenings, Lily needed to calm down a little.

As she fell to the couch, she did not hit the soft, comfortable cushion as she had expected. Instead a lumpy and rather hard surface covered the couch.

Too tired to care, she assumed James had left some sort of object on the couch, and leaned back to more thoroughly situate herself.

What Lily did not expect, was for the sofa to protest to her weight. It began to heave and rumble, and then it let out a squeaky groan.

Lily jumped abruptly and moved toward the other end of the couch as a strange being began to come from the depths of the plush cushions.

Lily gasped as a dark, somewhat furry ball appeared. As a neck and arms followed it, Lily socked the human in the shoulder.

"James!" Lily shrieked. "What in the world are you trying to do to me? Scare me to death?"

James' head had come from beneath a velvet scarlet blanket that matched the dark red color of the couch. James squinted as the bright light of the fire grazed his eyes and lit up his hazel orbs.

The two were situated in a rather unconventional position. James was leaning back awkwardly against the armrest of the couch while Lily sat atop his lap. Both froze for a second and looked at each other, James with a solemn face and Lily was a confused grimace.

James then jumped up, kicking Lily off of him and onto the other side of the couch, and sat up abruptly. "Lily, I'm so sorry. I wasn't quite aware of my surroundings yet. I thought-" James cut off his notion mid-sentence.

That could not keep Lily from being interested. "Thought what?"

"Well… I thought I was dreaming. It's not everyday that you wake up with the girl-of-your-dreams on your lap, you know," James said, a small smile on his face.

Lily did not reply, not knowing how to respond. They sat in silence for a moment, both slightly uncomfortable with James' last confession.

"Can I ask you about the… our… date?" James finally asked, breaking the frightening silence. Lily was glad to hear something so familiar. This notion helped her zone in on her goal, on OAF. She had never seen James Potter this way before, so…. Vulnerable! She wanted to laugh at the thought. This is the James she needed to properly crush him.

Lily turned her head towards James, who now sat far away at the other end of the couch, and smiled. "Of course," she said, chipper.

"Well," James began, "I was thinking that we could leave as early as possible, just so we have the full day to do everything." James' spoke with haste out of excitement.

"Everything?" Lily asked, genuinely curious.

A large grin sparkled across James' face, "Just wait and see what I've got planned."


	6. Wonderland

Lily glanced into her floor-length mirror for the sixth time. Her sixth outfit, a long tan skirt and white blouse with blue jacket, flowed gracefully to the floor. She had been through three pairs of pants, one a hideous green she was sure Petunia had thrown into her bag as a farewell gift, and two other decent skirts before deciding on her outfit.

She was not surprised by the amount of time she took on her wardrobe. Lily and Marlene both knew that if she wanted to allure James she had to do everything right the first time and avoid the bile-colored knickers.

Marlene had set up an intense interrogation with Lily, quizzing her on talking points and different ways to flirt during a date.

Lily was slightly surprised by the experience Marlene appeared to have. She had never taken Marlene for the flirty type, but Lily could not question Marlene, for her advice seemed suitable.

Lily was to meet James beneath the small tree in front of Hogwarts at four o'clock. She glanced down at her watch, noted that it was ten minutes till, and looked back in the mirror. They had deliberated for so long whether to cover up the hear-shaped scar (or 'love scar' as Marlene so brilliantly put) or to leave it out in the open, hoping to send James into a guilt trip. They had decided to leave the blemish open. Lily turned her face from side to side and, pleased with herself, smiled. Marlene stood behind her, a gleaming face, proud of her work.

"Oh, Lily, you look wonderful," Marlene cooed.

"I do, don't I?" Lily responded. "All due to you, Marlene. Why in the world didn't you intervene with Dorcas' plan earlier? I'm sure we would have gotten more done with you on the job." Lily smiled at Marlene who blushed.

"Well, I should probably head out," Lily said and she began walking to the door. A thought occurred to her and she turned around. "Marlene, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course. What is it?" Marlene raised her eyebrows and waited.

"Well, you see," Lily didn't know how to phrase her question. Marlene and she had never really spoken about things regarding real romance. "What if… well… what if he tries to kiss me. What should I do?"

A small smile crept up Marlene's cheeks as Lily blushed. "Isn't it odd that this flipped so much? You and I talking about getting back at James and Dorcas no longer a real friend?"

Lily laughed at Marlene's comment. It was true, she knew. She had never guessed it would turn out like this. "Well?" Lily asked, leading Marlene to answer her question.

"Let him," she said matter-of-factly. "I don't think now's the time to play hard-to-get. Well, why not? Right?" Marlene began changing her answer as she stared at Lily's horror-stricken face. "I mean, well, you don't have to if you don't want to."

"It's not that, it's just-"

"Wait, you _want _to kiss James?" Marlene leaned toward Lily, one eyebrow slightly raised, not in a judgmental way, but in a way that told Lily that Marlene would accept whatever answer Lily had for her.

But Lily knew the answer to this question. "_No_," Lily said firmly. "You see, I've never tricked a man into liking me just so I could destroy his ego. It's my first time. So you must understand that I would question whether or not to kiss the guy. Don't you think that's reasonable?" Lily shook her head sarcastically.

Marlene laughed and said, "Of course, Lily. Of course." Her face became serious as she continued, "But I would indeed kiss him back. The time has come and if we want this to work we'll have to do whatever it takes to reel him in for good." Marlene looked at her wrist watch. "And to reel him in for good you probably don't want to be late to your first date." Marlene pushed Lily out of the dormitories and shouted "Good luck!" to her as she ran down the stairs.

"Lily!" Marlene shouted to Lily from the top of the staircase and Lily turned around to look up at her. "No more hard-to-get." Marlene winked at her and Lily smiled. She continued down the last few steps backwards and gave Marlene two thumbs up.

Unfortunately, Lily mistook the last step to be ground level and went plummeting backwards. Her back ricocheted off of some sort of hard object and she flew forward. After catching her balance, she turned around to find Peter staring at her with wide, guilt-ridden eyes.

"Lily," he sputtered. "I'm so sorry. I didn't see you there."

"It's all right, Peter. No worries," Lily replied. But Peter's guilt did not leave his now cherry face. His eyes darted to her love scar.

"What happened?" He asked, gesturing to the scar.

"Birds. But, really, it's nothing. I must be off!" Lily waved quickly to Peter and ran past him out the Common Room.

_________________________________

Lily and James walked down the streets of Hogsmeade side-by-side. But the silence that surrounded them was not awkward, as Lily had thought it would be. Instead, it was peaceful.

"So, where are we headed to?" Lily asked, genuinely interested.

"You'll see," James replied. Lily was not much for surprises. She usually badgered her family members until they told her what she was receiving for Christmas or for her birthday. But she had never been surprised before in this manner.

Lily, mesmerized by the almost clear sky above her, did not notice when James suddenly turned. She did however, with a jolt up her spine, feel his warm hand grasp hers as he laughed. "This way, Lily. Let's not dawdle and waste the day away." He flashed a bright smile and began dragging her to the left.

With disappointment, Lily looked up to the sign of the building they were about to enter: The Three Broomsticks. _So much for surprises,_ Lily thought dejectedly. She couldn't keep herself from feeling just a little sad about the ordinary place James was taking her to. Of course she loved The Three Broomsticks, it was, after all, one of the nicest pubs in Hogsmeade, but she was hoping for something just a little more special.

Lily spotted a cozy table by the fireplace with just enough room for two, but was surprised as James dragged her straight through the pub. He gave a hearty wave to the bartender (who everyone called Beard for the five foot long trail of hair that hung from his chin) who waved back, gesturing toward the back door.

Lily assumed they were being kicked out, but didn't understand why. Instead Beard walked around and led the couple towards an unusually small door. With a flick of his wand, Beard revealed an invisible door to their right. He opened it and pushed James and Lily through it.

Lily gasped at the sight on the other side. A small garden sat in front of her, filled with tulips, lilies, roses, dandelions, carnations, baby's breath, and every other flower imaginable.

"James, it's… it's…." Lily became speechless. Suddenly her plan didn't seem so bad. She was certainly was getting a lot of perks.

"Beautiful? Charming? Nice smelling? Go on, I'd love for you to finish." James winked at her.

"It's lovely," Lily finished. She grinned as disappointment flashed over his face. She couldn't help but under exaggerate. It would be too obvious and out-of-character for Lily to swoon over the makeshift Wonderland, but she couldn't say she didn't want to.

Lily studied the small table that sat in the middle of the garden. It was covered in a crisp white tablecloth and carried two sets of floral dishes, shimmering silverware, and crystal wine glasses.

James placed his hand on the small of Lily's back and led her to her seat. Once again, Lily's skin shivered at James' touch and Lily scrunched up her face in frustration. _If I didn't have such sensitive skin, I wouldn't be shivering every time he touched me,_ she reasoned with herself.

James pulled out the wire, cushioned chair and said, "M'lady." He bowed slightly and gestured toward the seat.

"Thank you, sir," Lily responded, plopping down into the soft cushion. "And what, may I ask, do you have in mind for these?" Lily grabbed her wine glass by the stem and shook it slightly at James as he sat down.

"Decoration." James smiled. As if pre-planned, Beard walked outside at that exact moment and placed two butterbeers on the table.

"What might ye be havin' today?" Beard looked at Lily, waiting for her order. Lily ordered from memory and James did the same. Beard turned around and walked back through the secret door, leaving the two of them alone.

Lily noted James' uncomfortable shifting. _He's nervous,_ she realized.

"So…" Lily tried to think of a conversation topic. "How exactly did you find out about this little room? James looked up at her and she watched one side of his lips move up into a half smile.

"Now that's a story I'm not quite sure you're prepared to hear. Perhaps once you've learned to accept the fact that I'm a flawed man." James smiled at her and continued, "Sirius Black being my biggest flaw." Lily understood what he meant and knew she did not want to hear this story.

"Ah, so now Black is merely a flaw of yours. Not to mention the fact that you two are almost one-in-the-same, entirely inseparable." She knew James loved Sirius. They were probably the closest in his group of friends.

Beard brought their food out and they both began to eat.

"We just think on the same wavelength, you know? Remus Lupin happens to be one of my greatest strengths."

Lily laughed and couldn't help but to agree. "I do fear he is the only one that has the power to bring out the good in you."

"That's not true! Many people bring out the best in me," James argued.

"Oh, and who would that be?" Lily asked with raised eyebrows.

"You." Lily sputtered a little, but then looked at James' face. She discerned that he was not joking and neither of them smiled nor laughed. She quickly looked down at her food and began prodding it as red flushed her cheeks.

The rest of the dinner consisted of lighter conversations. Lily didn't want to tread in any more emotional territory.

As their plates emptied Beard returned to clear them. "Interested in any dessert?" He asked.

James looked at Lily. "It's your call."

Lily looked down at the tablecloth in thought. She tried to remember what Marlene had said. _Is it better to stay longer? Or should I cut it off now? I do have double potions tomorrow. I should prepare. _"I think it might be best not to have dessert. Lots of work to do for tomorrow." Lily smiled at Beard who turned and walked back into the bar. She then looked at James. He was pulling money out of his pocket and putting it on the table.

"Shall we split the bill, James? I mean, it's not like we agreed to anything earlier," Lily asked.

James looked up from the coins in his hands, incredulous. "Are you joking?" He asked with wide eyes. "I asked you on this date and you said yes. Automatically _I _ get to pay. My goodness, Lily, I'm glad you decided to come. You deserve to have someone treat you for once."

Though slightly frustrated at James' insinuations that her friends or old boyfriends had never treated her to things, she couldn't help but feel cared for with him. "I _have_ had people treat me to things. I was just being polite," Lily responded.

James ignored her comment and said, "Shall we?"

They walked side-by-side back to the castle, not speaking very much, just enjoying the pleasant evening. As the castle gate came into view, panic overtook Lily's body. _The end of the date. This is it. The end. Dates end in a typical manner! _Lily's mind screamed at her. _What are you going to do? _Lily's pace slowed as they approached the front doors of the castle, her mind still in a frenzy.

"Thank you for a very pleasant evening, James. It was wonderful," Lily said, hiding her worry with a smile.

"Thank you for your company, Lily," James responded. They had reached the tree right outside the castle. A small yet full tree with low hanging branches that they had met under earlier that day.

James stopped walking and turned toward her. Lily turned slowly, eyebrows knit and lips contorted as if she had just eaten an entire lemon and washed it down with a glass of freezing salt water. Luckily, the dark of the night and the shadow of the tree hid her features. She could barely see James' eyes.

Apparently, James could judge Lily's outline well, for he raised his hand and placed his warm palm on the side of Lily's face. She stood, frozen from by his touch. Marlene had not prepared her for this. She needed time. More time!

He leaned toward her. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the inevitable. Just before their lips touched, James stopped moving, merely placing his forehead against hers. Their lips were inches away. "Good night, Lily," he murmured and slowly backed away, running his hand down her check until his fingertips brushed her jaw.

Lily stared at him and watched as he turned around and walked into the castle. Her stomach began to fill with two emotions, one which she expected and another that astonished her: relief and disappointment. Shocked and weakened by the mixed feelings, she leaned backwards, meaning to press her back into the bark of the tree. She instead grazed the edge of the tree and flew past it, landing on the ground.

"Brilliant," she mumbled, her back immersed in the overgrown, damp grass. "Just brilliant."


End file.
